Abundant evidence from several lines of investigation supports the belief that the effects on the offspring of maternal alcohol may be represented as an entire spectrum of disorders ranging in severity from the profound fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) described by Jones and Smith to less pronounced and more subtle abnormalities characterized in children as hyperactivity, poor attention span, school behavioral difficulties, impaired habituation and cognitive and perceptual problems, a symptom complex commonly termed minimal brain dysfunction (MBD). Results of our recent investigations in rat pups born to mothers who were fed a liquid diet (Sustacal) containing ethanol throughout pregnancy indicate strikingly similar effects including hyperactive motor behavior, impaired performance on avoidance tasks and delay in acquisition of developmental reflexes. We propose to utilize this animal model to delineate such unresolved issues as the: 1) threshold dose of alcohol necessary to produce the behavioral effects; 2) specific times during gestation when ethanol might be detrimental; 3) role of "binge" drinking at specific gestational periods on subsequent behavior in the offspring; 4) isolation of the effects of alcohol from the confounding effects of nicotine and caffeine; 5) segregation of alcohol's effects from nutritional variables utilizing pair-feeding as well as intragastric feeding procedures; 6) differentiation of the effects of ethanol on maternal care-taking from its effects on the fetus by utilizing methods to evaluate maternal-infant interaction. In addition the animal model has significant potential to elucidate the fundamental neurochemical mechanisms underlying the effects of alcohol on the fetus. Such an approach is not limited by the methodologic restrictions imposed by human investigations and provides a unique opportunity to explore the relationship between the behavioral alterations produced by alcohol and an alteration in specific catecholaminergic systems. We believe that the recent clinical studies as well as our findings in the animal model suggest that a substantial portion of children presently classified as exhibiting MBD are affected as a result of maternal exposure to alcohol and thus may be considered to represent victims of the expanded fetal alcohol syndrome (EFAS).